All Things Considered for Thursday, November 7, 2013

The agency says trans fats, found in partially hydrogenated oils, raise the risk of heart disease. Even though food companies have drastically reduced their use of the oils, you can still find trans fat in microwavable popcorn, Crisco and all kinds of mass-produced baked goods.

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Schools nationwide are under growing pressure to add instructional time, and recess is often one of the first things to get squeezed — particularly in low-income districts. But some schools are pushing back, embracing play time and physical activity as central to learning.

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In 2003, U.S. forces discovered a trove of Jewish documents in a flooded Baghdad basement. They tell the tale of a once-thriving Jewish community. The painstakingly restored documents will be exhibited in the U.S. before they are returned to Iraq. But some Jewish groups are trying to prevent that.

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Before World War II, numerous Jewish emigrants left Lithuania for South Africa. In his debut novel, Kenneth Bonert tells the story of a family among their number. As reviewer Ellah Allfrey writes, despite a few rookie mistakes, that story is told with great inventiveness and care.

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There are few blacks who have made it big in the Valley. Tristan Walker is one of them, and he's now trying to open doors so that others can make it too. Now, he's an entrepreneur-in-residence at an influential venture capital firm and founded Code2040, a group that aims to recruit blacks and Latinos for tech and engineering jobs.

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Silicon Valley will soon open up a high-tech water recycling facility, capable of turning treated sewage into crystal clean water. In theory, it should be better than what comes out of kitchen sinks today. The purification is tough, but the hardest challenge is convincing people to drink it, even as freshwater becomes more scarce.

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Commentator Andrei Codrescu gets an offer to buy the Stein Bookstore in Jerusalem. It is the most distinguished bookstore in a city where books play an important role, and a place where great author once came.

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For six decades, in her light-filled studio on top of New York's Carnegie Hall, Sherman photographed celebrities from Leonard Bernstein to Yul Brynner to Joe DiMaggio. She was a legend as a portrait photographer — and she'd tell you that herself.

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Trading in shares of the social-networking site Twitter began Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. It's been the best year for initial public offerings since 2007. And the Twitter IPO was the most eagerly awaited of the year.

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"People who multitask all the time can't filter out irrelevancy. They can't manage a working memory. They're chronically distracted," sociologist Clifford Nass said. The Stanford University professor died earlier this week.

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More than two years since the fall of Moammar Gadhafi, Libya is growing more chaotic. Analysts describe a nation awash with heavy weapons in the hands of militias divided by tribe, ideology and region. The central government has little power over the gunmen, and leaders worry their country could become another Somalia or Afghanistan.

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New public opinion polls show distaste for National Security Agency surveillance does not break cleanly across party lines. Despite the administration's attempts otherwise, one new study finds that the more people know about the NSA, the more they dislike it.

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The Secret Service made some immediate changes after the president's death 50 years ago this month: Open limousines were out. And it began taking a more aggressive approach to its advance work. Over the years, the service has established counter-sniper units, assault teams and surveillance units.

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The Fisk Jubilee Singers are known for their near-perfect voices and performances of African-American spiritual songs. Now the choir's musical director is on the road, mentoring to young groups across the South. He's also hoping to preserve the songs too.

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Nathan Bedford Forrest High School in Jacksonville, Fla., was named decades ago for a Confederate hero — who was also the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. More than 160,000 people have signed a petition urging a name change, but the current name has also drawn passionate support.

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A new biography from Sam Wasson examines the life and legacy of the Broadway, TV and film director Bob Fosse, who is known for such game-changing entertainments as Cabaret, Liza With A Z and Chicago. NPR's Bob Mondello says the book has both substantial research and vivid descriptions.